Leather substitute and method of making the same



Dec. 2, 1924. 1,517,892

K. R. DOUGLASS LEATHER SUBSTITUTE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. 22, 1919 I; WWI/WWW! Base F7611 confal'mhy RJbber. Fabf/Z Base;

ICRDouy/ass, lnvemor I I Patented Dec. 2,

I :UN' IED. ,STA

4 "Application filed November To all whom it may comem':

Be it known that I, KENNETHI Dove-'- LABS, a citizen of the United States,fand a vresidentof W ilmington, in the county .of

New Castle and State of Delaware, have in vented a -certain'new and useful Leather.

Substitute and Method of Making the Same,

, of which the following is a specification.

' 1 My invention. relates to leather substitutes and has more particular reference to. filmcarrying textileifabrics adapted for useas substitutes for leather in furniture'coverings, automobile upholstery, luggage; and so on,-and also relates to methods of making such substitutes,

Inthe manufacture of materials of the character mentioned the desire is to produce: 'an'article that will .be long wearin'g, can be satisfactorily embossed, and will'have the feel of leather.' For properembossing ,qualitiesfand proper feel pyroxylin films 1 are highly satisfactory and muchuse'd'; but in v using tliemit is common, and advisable, to

add a softener, sayeastor oil, to insure flexibility, Yet, itis a matter of no small diificulty to getaproper and long-wearing atciently soft-to give deslred flexibility, and the fabric. Ihave devised a leather substitute'which not only has a film with a prop-' 'erly flexible pyroxylin surface, whereby the substitute has the. desired .ffeel andem- :bos's ng qualities and is long wearing, but

4 also has that'film stron ly and adeguately' I attached tofithe fabric. v

- I; have a method whereby- 'such substitute can'be' manufactured readily and economically. One object of my inventionis to provide .40; a leather substitute, in thelcharacter ofja flexibilityand surfaeeand' having-,it'sfilmly both to rubber and to pyroxylln, and ex-- film-carrying, textile fab'ric,'1.of superior strongly attached to itsfabric. c

Another object is to provide. a'le'ather substitutei'of the character indicated infiwhich a lower film, that com a'stratum' of;

the entire film, is of rub 'er and, so, stronglyattached .to fabric, and in, which ;an' ju per is o f pyroxylinand, so, 'welladapte for embossingand; having a proper feel, the

lower and upper films being stronglynat-f tached to each other and united to formthe entire filim Another obj evised'.

provide 'method whereby leather substitutes of the character 'nnnawann, 'ss'mnoa To a. I. no ,rom an or w nmmeromnnnawaan, a conrgoaa'rronor nunssuns'rrrurn' Amman]; or we TEE same.

as, 1919. semi 110.3393.

indicated ante made steam e'xpedi tlolislyand relatively -inexpensively.

, To-these and other ends, and also toimprove generally upon substitutes" and methods of the character indicated, my invention described and claimed. I

The figure in theaccompanyin'g jdrawing leather substitute made in'accordance with -my invention.

In-carrying out my dissimilar films inbuilding up the complete film on the fabric base, and place between firmly'joints them together, i..e., a'doubly-r adherent substance. In this way I. aili-en abled to use, for the film directly attached .to the fabric, one-which will adhere very firmly thereto, not having to consider the consists in the following matters hereinafter,

feel and so forth of its surface; and also I is a' conventional cross-sectional view of-a invention I use two the two asubstance that adheres 'toboth and; 7;)

am enabled to use for the surface film a ma I terial having the surface and flexibility de-' sired,-not having'tooconsider the ability of such surface film to adhere to-the fabric.

Thus 'fithfl best-materials for thepa'rticular bili fie'xi i1it' for the upper, can be selected,

and com ined tO give an article of superior wearing-.ability,'. a nd, at the samet me, su- 5 perior surface.

-lows: I coat a fabric base with a rubber, film that has the flexibility I desire and will adhere very firmly to the fabric, although since itis of, rubber, it has not those. qualities of surface which I desire. Then I coat the film with linseed 'oil, preferably *boiledto increase its dryin properties, this oil having the ability to ad ere very-strong ply a filingof pyroxylincom g? several under coats. of relaqualities desired, i. e., adherence. and flexi for the lower film, and surface and Stated more specifically, I I proceed as r611 7 per coa s of relatively lighter jelly This 'Pyro'xylin upper v s the subs itute *a' surface having the qualities of feel, and

satisfactory ability to be embossed, that l desire, fAnd I can use in the-pyroxylin film, preferablymerely in the lower coats, that amount of softener needed -to' give desired flexibility, whatever might bethebad efiect of such an amount of softener on the ability of the pyroxylin to adhere to fabric.

In making a leather substitute embodying my invention, the procedure can satisfactorily be as follows (the various proportions given are by weight) Using a textile fabric base, there is applied thereto a rubber compound dissolved in such an amount of solvent that it will spread evenly, said compound being such as will ivea film that will remain flexible indefinitely; a sufiicient number of coats, say five, being used to cover the fabric well, and each coat, preferably, being dried after 1ts application, say five minutes at 8090' C. A proper compound is Parts.

Crude rubber 15 Litharge 7 Sulphur Carbon black 2 Whitin 22 Natural bitumen 2% but these proportions may be widely varied. These materials are worked up with mixing rolls in the usual manner and the compound then dissolved in preferably either gasoline or 90% benzol, preferably two parts of solvent to one of compound being used, these proportions giving a desirable consis tency for easy spreading.

After the rubber film is applied it is calendered, to give it a smooth surface, such a surfacebeing desirable to insure against objectionable sinking in of the substance next to be applied. Y

Next, linseed oil, preferably boiled, is applied to the rubber film, in one or more coats, sufiici'ent togive a good adherent film over theenti're surface of the rubber film, the oil preferably being used with a solvent for the rubber; e. g. equal parts of oil and 90% benzol or gasoline being desirable and 'giving a relatively thin solution. Each coat is preferably dried for, for example, one.

hour-.or longer at 80 C. The oil used may vary from stand oil to the heaviest jelly which will absorb gasoline or benzol. As a dryer for the oil, lead or cobalt linoleate in an amount weighing, say, 2% of the weight of the oil may be used. Also, the use, with I the oil, of gums and resins, such as mastic,

Cir

rosin, copal or other resins commonly used in oil varnishes, in an amount weighing say moreor lessas desired, of the weight of the oil, materially lessens] the time of,

.' directly upon said base, a nltrocellulose film drying, and such use is advisable.

Next, the'material is cured, in the manner used in vulcanizing rubber, say for three hours at 120 (1., the oil being dried during" the vulcanizing.

Next, a coatmgof pyroxylin jelly of any desired heaviness, and containing a suitable Softener, is applied to the oil-covered rub- Parts. Solvent 88 Nitrocellulose l2 Castor oil 18 The solvent may he, say, parts of 90% benzol to 40 of ethyl acetate. To the jelly may be added such coloring matter as de- 'sired, s'ay 15 parts, composed of 7 parts castor oil and 7 pigment. I

Next there is applied, to complete the pyroxylin film, a clear top coating, consisting of one or two coats of a solution of, say, 10 parts of nitrocellulose to 90 parts of a solvent such as that given above, eachcoat being dried at, say, 85 C. for a minute or two.

Lastly, the finished material is dried for three orfour days, or preferably a week, at about 20 C. to give full opportunity for the oil to dry.

' The various rubber and pyroxylin coats given definite figures, proportions and so forth, I do not confine myself to them for, as will be evident,'many departures from those figures can be made without departing from the invention. a

I claim as my invention: v

1'. An article of manufacture comprising a fabricbase carrying a s ies of superposed films thereon including rubber film -directly upon said base, a nitroc llulose film carried by said rubber film, and a doublyadherent film, dissimilar to both said previously named films, between such two films.

2, An article of manufacture comprising a fabric base carrying a series of superposed films thereon including a rubber film directly upon said-base, a nitrocellulose film carried by said rubber film, and a drying oil film therebetwe'en} 3. An article of manufacture comprising a fabric base carrying a series of superposed films thereon including a rubber film carried-by said rubber film, and a film of linseed oil therebetween.

4i. An article ofmanufacture comprising a fabric base carrying a series of superposed films thereon including a rubber film directly'up'on said base, a nitrocellulose film carried by said rubber film and including a softener, and afilm of linseed oil therebetween.

' 5. An article of manufacture comprising a fabric base carrying a series of superosed films thereon, including a rubber film irectly upon said base, a nitrocellulose film carried by said rubber film and including a softening oil, and a film of linseed oil therebetween.

6. An article of manufacture comprising a fabric base carrying a series of superposed films thereon including a rubber film directly upon said base, a nitrocellulose film carried by said rubber film, and a film of linseed oil and resin therebetween.

7. Anarticle of manufacture comprising a fabric base carrying a series of superposed films thereon, including a rubber film directly-upon said base, a nitrocellulose film carried by said rubber film and including a softener, and a film of linseed oil and resin therebetween. v v

'8. An article of manufacture comprising a fabric base carrying a series of superposed films thereon, including a rubber film directly upon said base, a nitrocellulose film carried by said rubber film and including a softening oil, and a film of linseed oil and resin therebetween. I

9. The method of manufacturing a coated fabric which comprises, applying to the fabric a coating of dissolved rubber, removing the solvent of the rubber, calendering the rubber, applying a coating of linseed oil, vulcaniz ing the rubber and drying the oil, applying a coating of dissolved nitrocellulose, and removing the mlvent of the nitrocellulose.

10. The method of manufacturing a coated fabric which comprises, applying to the fabric a coating of dissolved rubber, removing the solvent of the rubber, calenderi'ng the rubber, applying a coating of linseed oil and rubber solvent, vulcani'zing the rubber 'while removing the rubber solvent and drying the oil, applying a coating of dissolved nitrocellulose, and removing the solvent of the nitrocellulose.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

' KENNETH R. nonemss. 

